And ebenezer



{No Model.)

T. MGBRIDE- 82; E. FISHER. GALKING PLANKING OP BOATS, (Sac. No 581,737. Patented Jan. 1, 1895.

i r m n G E H F a fl 0 7 7 0 9 a M F F C ,1 xflm Uwrrsn STATES THOMAS MCBRIDE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND EBENEZER FISHER, OF GODERICH, CANADA.

CALKING PLANKING or BOATS, &o.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,737, dated January 1, 1895.

Serial No. 480,781 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, THOMAS MGBRIDE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, and EBENEZER FISHER, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Goderich, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Calking Planking for Boats, Ships, the; and we do hereby declare the following to be a sufficiently full, clear, and exact description thereof as to enable others skilled in the art to make and use the said invention.

This invention relates to the joints of ships planking, and has for its object the formation of durable water tight joints and the stiffening and strengthening of such structures.

To this end this invention consists in a new and improved method of inserting metallic tongues into the edges of the planking, which improved method producesdurableand strong water tight joints and firmly braces the parts to each other.

This invention further embraces as a new and useful article of manufacture strips of ductile metal of lenticular cross section having thin edges adapted to be inserted in incisions formed in the edges of planks by forcing the wood of the sides of the incisions apart.

This invention is applicable to the vertical as well as the lengthwise seams in planking and keel of such structures.

The construction of the joints or calking, and the method of making the same is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and hereinafter fully described.

Referring to the drawingsz Figure 1, shows an elevation of part of the planking of the hull of a boat, with the invention applied thereto; Fig. 2, a section thereof in the plane indicated by the dotted line 03-00 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a section thereof in the plane indicated by the dotted line y-y in Fig. 1. Fig. 4. is an enlarged transverse section of parts of two planks, with this joint formed between them. Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views of modifications thereof. Figs. 7, 8 and 9 show cross sections of difierent forms of the metallic tongue used in this method; and Figs.

10, 11 and 12 show the method of preparing the planks, for the insertion of the tongues.

1 and 2 represent the ends of planks with a vertical joint 3 made in accordance with this invention, formed between them.

4 represents aportion of the planks, having ahorizontal joint 5,embodyingthisinvention formed between them, and the lower edges of the planks 1 and 2.

.6, 6, 6, represent strips of metal (copper answering the purpose satisfactorily). The metallic strips 6 are of ductile metal, and in cross section as shown in Fig. 7 like a lentil, with thin edges. These are easily produced by rolling a soft ductile wire between rollers with a pass formed between them, a counterpart of the shape shown in Fig. 7.

The planks are prepared to receive the strips by scoring a groove in them as shown in Fig. 10 with a tool similar to a carpenters scribe gage. The blade 9, of the gage, does not remove any of the wood, but simply opens the kerf 8, by pressing the wood apart, and this should be done parallel to the inner surface 10 of the plank 1; such result being at tained, by pressing the shoulder 11 of the tool against the inner edge of the plank. The edges of the plank are planed to form joints of close contact of surfaces. The elasticity of the wood tends to close the kerf S, and presses it firmlyagainst the sides of the strip 6.

Having prepared the planks, by making the kerfs 8, in the edges thereof, the strip 6 is inserted, and the joint surfaces of the wood coated with white lead putty, or any other plastic cement. The joint between the planking is then closed by pressure exerted by clamps or wedges in the usual manner, and the wood at the kerf 8, by its elasticity, presses with a fluid tight contact against the metallic strip 6, and on being secured to the frame of the vessel, forms a perfect joint requiring no calking, and is of such depth and elasticity, that it remainstight under any changes in hygrometric condition, producing either shrinkage or swelling of the wood. As above described we have referred to only a single tongue and single groove in the edge of each plank. In Figs. 5 and 6 respectively two and three tongues are shown, and the implement for cutting these kerfs is shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The strips for the multiple grooved form of joints may be united by a thin metallic web, 12, as shown in Figs. 8 and'9, but that involves increased expense in their production.

The multiple tongued joints, as depicted in Figs. 5 and 6, are desirable in cases of thick planking. The single tongued form of the invention is adequate and fully efficient in light planking, not only as a fluid tight substitute for calking, but as a stifiening and strengthening of the entire structure, and permits the use of planking thinner than can be safely calked in the usual manner.

Having described our invention and the method of making the same, What we claim 1s 1. The improved method making water tight joints between Wooden planks, by first forming kerfs in the opposing edges of the planking, by cutting and forcing apart-the wood without removing any material part thereof, then placing one or more ductile metal strips in the kerfs, and closing the planks firmly together with the strip embedded in the wood substantially as shown and described.

2. An improved fluid tight joint for planking consisting of one or more thin edged ductile metallic strips of lenticular cross section, combined with planks, having kerfs formed in their opposite edges by incision and compression of the wood laterally on the sides of the kerf without removal of said Wood, said planks being pressed together with said metallic strip or strips, inserted in said kerfs with the wood of said kerfs pressing laterally against the sides of said metallic strips sub stantially as set forth.

3. An improved fluid tight joint for planking, consisting of one or more thin edged ductile metallic strips of lenticular cross section, combined with planks, having kerfs formed in their opposite edges/by cutting and compression of the wood laterally on the sides of the kerf without removal of said wood, said planks being pressed together with said metallic strip or strips inserted in said kerfs, with the Wood of said kerfs pressing laterally against the sides of said metallic strips with a plastic cement interposed between the contiguous wood surfaces, substantially as set forth.

4. An article of manufacture consisting of ductile metallic strips having a lenticnlar cross section with thin edges adapted to be inserted in kerfs in contiguous planks for the forming of fluid tight joints substantially as described.

THOlVIAS lHCBRlDE. EBENEZER FISHER.

Witnesses:

PETER MCBRIDE, GEORGE MOBRIDE. 

